


D2: Catching Up

by Jackkel Dragon (jackkel_dragon)



Series: Jackkel's Corpse Party Fanfic [17]
Category: Corpse Party (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-10 19:28:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18414380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackkel_dragon/pseuds/Jackkel%20Dragon





	D2: Catching Up

“Sorry I’m late!”

I quickly took a seat at the table Naho and Shinozaki were sitting at and gave Naho an apologetic smile.

“Did something come up?” Shinozaki asked, moving over to make room for me.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “My recording session was delayed, so I ended up needing to stay longer to make sure everything got done.”

Naho adjusted her glasses and leaned back. “What are you providing the voice for this time?”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a picture that I had printed out earlier to place on the table. “I’m going to be one of the main characters in the next season of the Caged spinoff series. This is what she looks like.”

Shinozaki leaned in to look at the picture, but didn’t comment on it. This was one of the first times I had gone out with Shinozaki around, so I wasn’t sure if she was always this quiet or not.

“Caged? Isn’t that a pandering fanservice anime?” Naho smirked and shook her head. “You’re going downhill, Sayaka. I didn’t think you would peak at 23.”

I felt my cheeks go red as I thought of the images probably going through Naho’s mind and I frowned. “I-it’s not just fanservice! There’s a lot of… you know, important stuff too!”

Naho rolled her eyes in amusement. “I’m sure that’s why Taguchi was so excited that the spinoff involved a bunch of schoolgirls…”

I imagined Taguchi watching some of the episodes I recorded for and immediately wished I hadn’t. “Waaaaah… You’re so mean, Naho…”

Shinozaki slid the printout of my character back to me and smiled in a way that I think was meant to be reassuring. “How have your other jobs been going?”

Slipping the printout into my pocket, I tried not to huff at the memory of a talk I had with my manager earlier this week. “They’ve been going well, but my manager pulled me aside a few days ago to have a ‘talk’ about what will happen if something happens to my voice.”

Naho frowned and rubbed her chin in thought. “They’re already thinking of replacing you?”

“That’s what I asked him!” I huffed, deciding it was a memory worth huffing over. “He said that he wants to have this all planned out 'just in case’ something happens so that we don’t have to worry about it.”

Shinozaki looked between me and Naho and frowned. “What would you do if the agency let you go?”

I ran a finger through my hair and looked away. “Hmmm… I could try getting the same job at a different agency, but I’m thinking that I want to try acting. Like, you know, live-action.”

Naho and Shinozaki nodded. Naho shrugged at me. “At least you wouldn’t need to worry about being fired for your voice changing.”

I nodded and looked around. “Are we going to be waited on, or what’s going on?…”

Shinozaki and Naho exchanged glances. When neither of them said anything, I started to realize what happened.

“You two already ordered and finished before I got here, didn’t you?”

Shinozaki nodded sheepishly. Naho adjusted her glasses and avoided eye contact.

“Well, we can’t help it if you’re too busy recording lines for Taguchi to listen to before he goes to sleep each night…”

I stood up and reached over the table to grab Naho by the shoulders. “Naaaaahoooo! Don’t make me think about things like that!”

I was going to continue to pester Naho for making me thing of such disturbing things, but my phone started to ring and I sat back down to look at the caller ID.

“Important?” Naho asked nonchalantly, as if I hadn’t just grabbed her from across the table.

“It’s Haruyuki.” I rejected the call and sent him a message that I’d call him back once I was finished at the cafe. “I’ll talk to him once we’re done here.”

Shinozaki looked over at Naho and frowned. “Who’s Haruyuki?”

Naho crossed her arms. “Haruyuki Inumaru went to high school with Sayaka and I. He and Sayaka lived near each other, so you could call them childhood friends.”

I nodded, pulling up a photo of him on my phone to show to Shinozaki. “Yeah. This is what he looks like.”

After I had shown the photo to Shinozaki, I put my phone away and noticed that Naho was smirking at me.

“What’s so funny?”

Naho shrugged. “Thinking back to high school and then seeing how you treat Inumaru now… It’s amusing how different things are.”

I pouted at Naho. “But he was soooooo annoying in high school! At least now he’s not hovering over me all the time!”

Naho smirked and tilted her head over to Shinozaki. “Yet the affection still seems to be one-sided.”

“Hey! Don’t spread weird rumors like that!” I waved a hand in front of Shinozaki’s face and shook my head. “Don’t listen to her!”

Shinozaki gave an uncomfortable chuckle and nodded slowly. I sighed and sat back down.

“Speaking of high school…” I ran a hand through my hair and pulled out my phone. “Whatever happened to Aiko?…”

The smirk on Naho’s face disappeared. “Does it matter? She’s not prying on our personal lives anymore. For once we don’t have to worry if she’s selling our measurements to the highest bidder.”

I sighed. “Aiko wouldn’t sell something like that. She was our friend.” I found an old photo on my phone and showed it to Naho. “See? We even took a photo with her once.”

“Only because she happened to be there, if I remember it right.” Naho scoffed, looking away.

Shinozaki looked at me. “I’m guessing this girl and Naho didn’t get along?”

I nodded slowly. “You can say that.” I frowned at the photograph. “Still, I’m a bit worried about her. She seemed to have everything together, but then… she just vanished.”

“Not really.” Naho shook her head. “Her blog is back and her prices dropped. You must not be as worried as you thought if you didn’t notice. She was only gone for a year or so.”

“Wait, she’s back?”

“Same site.” Naho nodded, adjusting her glasses. “As some of my fans are so keen to point out to me…”

“Maybe I should see if she wants to meet… It’s been almost six years since we’ve seen each other.”

Naho grumbled, but didn’t say anything. Shinozaki must have noticed how touchy of a subject this was, since she broke the silence.

“Anyway, I promised my sister I’d buy a few things before I came home, plus I need to call someone before it gets too late. I’ll email you the new sketches in a few days.”

Naho nodded and turned back to face Shinozaki, Aiko apparently already forgotten. “Good. Kibiki is editing the last few passages now, so we’re going to need to move quickly once that’s finished.”

Shinozaki stood up to leave and I realized I was in her way. I stood up myself and waved to Naho. “I’d better call Haruyuki back before he gets worried. I’ll try to find another free spot in my schedule later this week or sometime next week to make it up for being late.”

Naho stood up and smiled at me. “Don’t let me keep you from recording your fanservice projects.”

I huffed and made a show of spinning to face away from Naho. “Or maybe I’ll make sure I’m busy. We’ll see.”

Shinozaki seemed to be suppressing a chuckle as she waved to us and left the cafe. I barely was able to get a wave out before she left.

I left the cafe, still hungry but glad to have been able to see Naho today. With my busy schedule, it was getting harder and harder to find free time to spend with Naho.

On the way home I pulled out my phone and called Haruyuki back, hoping he wouldn’t still be talking when it was time for me to head to work.


End file.
